Men’s 2011 Beach Handball EURO reaches Main Round

A fantastic atmosphere embedded in the scenic surroundings of the sunny Croatian coast – the 7th European Beach Handball Championships in Umag are the place to be for the handball family these days. This is not at least underlined by an impressive guest list including EHF President Tor Lian, EHF Secretary General Michael Wiederer and IHF President Hassan Moustafa, who are visiting the major tournaments of this fast-growing sport.

In the men’s tournament, the Group Phase has come to an end. The four best placed teams will proceed to the Main Round, the three teams finishing on fifth place will continue in the Consolation Round.

In Main Round the teams will now meet four new teams. Every team takes the result against the fifth opponent – coming from the same Preliminary Round Group – with them, this match is not played again. In the Consolation Round the teams meet both opponents twice.

GROUP A

With a high-class Beach Handball performance Russia won Group A after five victories in five games. Their last game against Norway was their toughest challenge but they still won in two straight sets and put Norway on the runners-up spot. The Scandinavians lost some sets over the Preliminary Round but in the end managed to win every match except for the duel against Russia. In the ranking the Serbian team secured third place and have a good position in the Main Round. With a last minute victory over Greece, Turkey go through to the next stage while the Greek team goes to Consolation Round.

Group A Final Standings1. Russia2. Norway3. Serbia4. Turkey5. Greece

GROUP B

Hosting nation and title defenders Croatia were the top team in this group. After winning all four matches they enter the Main Round as one of the tournament favourites. In their last game they defeated Spain in the duel for top position and put the Spaniards on second place. Before that match the Spanish side had not lost a single set and go to Main Round together with third placed Poland. Two victories over Cyprus and Sweden were enough for Poland. While Cyprus goes on, Sweden go to Consolation Round.

Group B Final Standings1. Croatia2. Spain3. Poland4. Cyprus5. Sweden

GROUP C

In Group C the Bronze medallists from 2009, Hungary, showed an impressive performance as they did not lose a single set. Only in their very first set in their opener against Ukraine they had to go into Golden Goal, but also won this set. In Group C the Ukrainians also managed to astound with a very effective attacking play. Winning their remaining three matches, they secured second rank. Despite HSV star Hans Lindberg as playmaker, Denmark only collected four points in four matches. After fourth place in 2009, the team is now hoping for improvement in the Main Round. The last team to snatch a Main Round place from Group C is FYR Macedonia. A crucial victory over Switzerland in their second match secured the necessary points.